Mop-pail.



J. A. WHITE MOP PAIL.

APPLICATION FILED MN. 14, I916- Patented July 25, 1916.

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JOHN A. WHITE, 0F OXFORD, OHIO.

' MOP-PAIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25', 1916.

Application filed January 14, 1916. Serial No. 72,006.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oxford, in the county of Butler and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mop-Pails, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to mop pails.

The object of the invention is to provide such a pail with mop-wringing rollers so arranged that the mophead can be inserted laterally between the same, and the mop cloth then drawn between the rollers to squeeze the superfluous water therefrom, and which will have a guard actuated by the mophead itself to close the space through which the mophead is inserted, to prevent the mop cloth from projecting beyond the ends of the rollers, where it would not be acted upon by the rollers.

To this end it is a further object of the invention to provide a guarding device having a guard portion supported normally at one side of the space between the rollers and movable across such space to close the same, and having an actuating portion extending above the rollers in a position to be engaged and operated by the mophead and thus move the guard portioninto its operative position; and a further object of the invention is to provide such a guarding device which will be very simple in its construction and operation so that it can be installed at a low cost and will not readily become disarranged or broken.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of the mop pail with the pail itself partially broken away to show the mop-wringing devices within the same; and Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the mop partially drawn through the rollers.

In these drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention and have shown the same as applied to an ordinary wooden pail 1. Mounted within this pail are two mop-wringing rollers, 2 and 3, which are of a length less than the diameter of the pail and are supported at one side of the pail so as to leave a space between their inner ends and the wall of thepail. The outer ends of, the rollers, that is, the ends nearest the wall of the pail, may be supported in any suitable manner and are here shown as journaled in a single bracket 4:,

as to leave an open space at the ends of the rollers through which a mophead may be inserted between the rollers. Preferably,these supportlng devlces comprise separate brackets, 12 and 13, secured to the opposite walls of the pail and having their inner ends spaced apart. The one roller 2 is journaled in its supporting brackets and is held against bodily movement. The other roller 3 is journaled in slots in the brackets, as shown at 5, which permit the roller not only to have rotary movement but to have bodily movement toward and away from the roller 2. These slots, however, are so arranged that when the roller 3 is in its position nearest the roller 2, there will be a space between the rollers sufficient to permit the insertion of the mopholder, which is usually in the form of a loop of wire, or the like, and is of considerable less thickness than the mop cloth. A spring 6 tends to move the roller 3 toward the roller 2 and to exert pressure upon the mop cloth as the latter is drawn between the rollers.

If the mop is not drawn upwardly between the rollers in a proper manner one edge of the cloth is liable to project beyond the ends of the rollers in a position in which it will not be acted on by the rollers. It is desirable, therefore, that some means be provided to prevent the escape of this portion of the cloth from between the rollers so that less care will be required in the use of the device. I have therefore, provided a guard comprising a part arranged in the path of the mophead as the latter is drawn between the rollers and adapted to actuate a second part to move the latter across the space between the supporting brackets and thus close this'space to prevent the escape of the mop cloth. It is desirable that this device should be of a very simple character, not only that it may be inexpensive, but that it may not get out of order readily and may have no'operating parts which will be seriously affected by rust, as, of course, the whole mechanism is wet whenever it is in use; Therefore, I preferably construct the guard in the form of a lever, which is'indicated as a whole by the reference numeral 7, and which is mounted on one of the separate brackets which support the inner ends of the rollers. As here shown the lever is mounted on the bracket which carries the inner end of that roller which is fixed against bodily movement; and further, the lever is shown as mounted on the end of the pintle of the roller, which projects beyond the bracket. The lever has a guard portion 8 which extends downwardly at one side of the space between the brackets and is movable across that space but is normally held in an approximately vertical position at one side of this space by means of a spring 9. The lever also has an actuating portion 10 which is arranged above the rollers and preferably extends diagonally across the same in a position to be engaged'by the mophead, as the latter is drawn upwardly between the rollers, and rocked about its axis to move the guard portion 8 across the space between the brackets, in which position it will prevent the mop cloth from escaping from between the rollers. The diagonal arrangement of the actuating portion of the lever permits the mophead to be inserted laterally between the rollers far enough to properly position the mop-cloth with relation to the rollers, and also facilitates the operation of the lever by the mophead. In the present instance I have also shown the actuating lever as provided with an arm 11 which is journaled on the pintle at the outer end of the roller 2, thus forming a superior support for the actuating part of the lever and preventing thesame from yielding or be coming distorted. Preferably the lever is formed from a single rod or heavy wire bent to provide it with the guard portion, actuating portion and bearings.

The operation of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing description.

Briefly, the mop is placed in the pail at the inner ends of the rollers, and when it is ready for wringing the mophead is inserted between the rollers by moving the same laterally between the brackets and the rollers, the mopholder passing between the rollers on the lateral movement of the mop and the mop cloth being positioned beneath the roll ers so that when the mop as a whole is drawn upwardly th cloth will be drawn between the rollers. The first portion of this upward movement causes the mop-holder to engage the actuating portion of the guard device and to rock the same about its axis to cause the guard portion thereof to extend across the space between the brackets, thus closing this space. The actuating portion of gthus maintaining the space between the brackets closed until the mop-cloth has been removed from the rollers after which the spring will return the device to its normal position. It will be apparent that the device is of a very simple character, the wringing mechanism being such that it will act on the mop automatically, and the means for confining the mop-cloth between the rollers being of a very simple construction which cannot be readily broken or rendered inoperative by abuse or corrosion, and further, being positive in its operation.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details of construction shown and described as various modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a device of the character described, a pail, a pair of rollers mounted in said pail, a single bracket to support one end of each of said rollers, separate brackets to support the other ends of said rollers, said separate brackets and said rollers being spaced apart to receive a mophead between them and one of sald rollers belng movable toward and away from the other of said rollers, a spring tending to move said movable roller toward said other roller, a guard lever pivotally mounted on one of said separate brackets and having a part extending above said rollers and diagonally across the same in the path of the mophead. as the latter is drawn upward between said rollers, said guard lever also having a part'arranged below the axes of said rollers at one end thereof and movable across the space between said separate brackets, and a spring to hold the last mentioned part of said guard lever normally in a position at one side of said space between said separate brackets.

2. In a device of the character described, a pail, a pair of rollers mounted in said pail, a single bracket to support'one end of each of said rollers, separate brackets to support the other ends of said rollers, said separate brackets and said rollers being spaced apart to receive a mophead between them and one of said rollers being movable toward and away from the other of said rollers, a spring tending to move said movable roller toward said other roller, a pivoted guard mounted on one of said separate brackets and having an actuating portion arranged above the rollers in the path of said mophead as the latter is drawn upward between the rollers, and also having a portion arranged below the axes of said rollers,

held normally at one side of the space between said separate brackets and adapted to be moved across the space between said separate brackets when movement is imparged to said actuating portion by the mophea 1 3. In a device of the character described,

a pail, a pair of rollers having pintles at their opposite ends, a single bracket arranged close to the wall of said pail and having bearings to receive the pintles at the outer ends of said rollers, other brackets secured to the wall of said pail, extending inwardly to points near the center thereof and having hearings to receive the pintles at the inner ends of said rollers, said last mentioned brackets having their inner ends spaced apart and having their bearings so arranged that said rollers will be normally spaced apart, the bearings for the pintles of one of said rollers being elongated to permit said rollers to move bodily toward and away from the other roller, a spring to hold the movable roller normally in its position nearest the other roller, a guard lever pivotally mounted on the inner pintle of that roller which is held against bodily movement, having a downward extending portion, and also having a portion extending upwardly to a point above said roller and then extending diagonally across said rollers, said diagonal portion having an arm mounted on the outer pintle of that roller which is held against bodily movement.

a. In a device of the character described, a pail, a pair of rollers of a length less than the diameter of said pail, separated supporting devices arranged near the center of said pail for the inner ends of said rollers, one of said rollers being yieldable bodily relatively to the other roller, and said rollers and said separated supporting devices being spaced apart to permit a mophead to be moved laterally between said rollers, and a guard device comprising a part adapted to be moved across the space between said supporting devices and having a part arranged above said rollers in a position to be engaged by said mophead when the latter is drawn between said rollers, said last mentioned part being operatively connected with the first mentioned part whereby the movement of the last mentioned part will cause the first mentioned part to be moved across the space between said supporting devices.

5. In a device of the character described, a pail, a pair of rollers mounted in said pail and having their inner ends spaced away from the wall of said pail, means for supporting said rollers in spaced relation one to the other and with the space at the inner ends of said rollers open to permit a mophead to be moved laterally between the same, and a guard having a part arranged normally at one side of the space between said rollers and movable across that space below the axes of said rollers, and having another part arranged in the path of the mophead as the latter is drawn between said rollers and operativelv connected with the first mentioned part to cause the latter to be moved across the space between said rollers when the mop is being acted upon by said rollers.

6. In a device of the character described, a pail, a pair of rollers mounted in said pail, one of said rollers being yieldable, said rollers being spaced apart and having the space at one end thereof unobstructed to permit a mophead to be moved laterally between the same, and a guard lever pivotally supported at one end of one of said rollers, having a downwardly extending arm and having an arm extending across said rollers in the path of the mophead as the latter is drawn between said rollers.

7. In a device of the character described, a pail, a pair of rollers mounted in said pail and having their inner ends spaced away from the wall of said pail, means for supporting said rollers in spaced relation one to the other and with the space at the inner ends of the rollers open to permit a mophead to be inserted laterally between the same, a device pivotally mounted at one end of said rollers and comprising a lever formed from a single piece of material bent to form a bearing for the lever, to form a guard portion projecting below said bearing, to form an actuating portion extending diagonally across the rollers and to provide a hearing at that end of said actuating device opposite iii st mentioned bearing.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature hereto.

JOHN A. WHITE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

